The Gift of Love, Giving, and Sacrifice
by bluestrdrmr
Summary: It's Christmas time! Tenten and her husband Neji, live in a small apartment and are poor. Tenten has barely any money to get her husband a gift and the Neji has the same problem. How will they get each other gifts?
1. Chapter 1

This is just going to be a short Christmas story. I hope you enjoy it: D

* * *

It was the day before Christmas; Christmas Eve to be exact. There was a poor brown-haired woman who was sitting on the floor of her apartment, trying to think of how to get her husband a wonderful Christmas gift. 

"My husband… what shall I get him…" thought the woman with two, brown buns on her head.

Her name was Tenten and she loved her husband with all her heart.

"$1.52… that's all I have to buy a gift for my husband…" sighed Tenten while tears dripped out of her eyes.

She lived in a small apartment with her husband, and only got $20.00 a week from her job at a small restaurant. She used half of the money to pay for rent, and the rest for food. Even if she saved up some pennies and nickels left from her pay, she wouldn't be able to buy herself something nice. Clothes were hard to get so all she had was some dusty jeans, a couple of whiteT-shirts, a chocolate-colored jacket, and a flowing, red skirt that went up to her knees.

"How will I use this money to buy him a gift?" Tenten asked herself, still sighing and crying.

The thing that was precious to her, besides her husband, were some battered up shuriken and kunai. Tenten loved to use weapons to aim at targets; it was her hobby. Tenten's eyes suddenly brightened. She ran to a small dresser and took out her 5 shuriken and her 3 kunai. Then she ran out of small apartment, not caring to lock the door. It was snowing when she came outside. She stopped for a moment to polish her weapons with her jacket before she ran into a store.

"Sir! Will you buy these weapons from me?" inquired Tenten holding up her dear weapons in her cold hands.

"Hmm… They are still in good condition… alright… how about… $25.00?" replied the middle-aged storekeeper.

"Sold!" exclaimed Tenten as she handed the man her weapons and took the money from him.

'Yes! Now I can get something wonderful for Neji!' thought Tenten while smiling.

She skipped and twirled at the thought of getting something for her husband that she adored. Suddenly she stopped.

* * *

**To be continued...**


	2. Chapter 2

In the window of a shop was a weapon kit. The kit included a special polishing and strengthening set for weapons and had a guide about weapons. It also had decorating tapes that were for weapons too.

"How wonderful these are!" gushed Tenten as she wiped the tips of her fingers over the glass of the window.

"I wish I could have these… only if I could…no I have to stop thinking of myself and start looking for Neji's gift."

"Please give to the poor!!! We need money!!! Please give us some coins!!!" yelled a woman with a sign and a bucket.

"Oh dear, excuse me. Here is some money," said Tenten while smiling, giving the woman ten dollars.

"Thank you so very much!" smiled the woman.

"It's no problem!"

Tenten always tried to help others. Especially people who didn't have enough money to fend for themselves. She frequently went to community service funraisers to help out with anything.

* * *

Neji owned a small carpenter's shop. He could fix anything that was made out of wood and make anything out of wood. He was sitting on a stool at a sturdy desk while carving a girl out of wood. Neji dropped his tool and wood and looked up and out at the street. He picked up his tool and chunk of wood again, then dropped them. He stood up, grabbed his coat off of his hat stand, and walked out the door. 

"What can I get for my Tenten? I don't even have enough money..."

An old lady was walking out of a store with many bags of groceries. Neji ran up to her.

"Ma'am, may I help you carry those bags?"

"Why, thank you young man. How kind of you!"

Neji was a kind, intelligent, and quiet person. Even though he was always quiet and away from large crowds, he always helped those in need. After helping the eldery woman with her bags, Neji started to walk back to his shop. Neji was a smart man and was accepted into many great colleges, but he declined, attended a community college, and became a carpenter. It all started when he was in middle school...

**Flashback**

_"Hello second period! Welcome to woodshop! I'm Mr. Bryans, here to help," shouted Mr. Bryans._

_Mr. Bryans explained to the class in detail how to use the two tool that were in front of them. He set them to work after he was finished, but he noticed(after twenty minutes) that Neji Hyuga was gripping a tool in his hand and shoving it into the wood. Beads of sweat were on his forehead. _

_"Neji, do you need any help? Is there a problem?" asked Mr. Bryans friendly._

_"Why would you ask ME if I needed help?" inquired Neji as he looked up at Mr. Bryans, "Nobody ever cares about what I do. Just as long as I do everything correctly and perfectly."_

_"Well, it seemed as though you needed a friend and you needed to talk."_

_"I guess..."_

_"Come into my office," ordered Mr. Bryans gently._

_After Neji sat down into a chair, Mr. Bryans started to talk._

_"Let's talk about ourselves okay? I'll go first. I was born into a family of six children, and I was the youngest. Everything we did had to be perfect. We were expected to be born with talent and to be prodigys. I had no talent at all. We all took lessons, tutoring classes, and we studied day in to day out. I was so unhappy. Until I met Mr.Halforth, my math teacher in my senior year in high school. We became close, and I always came to him to talk about things. One day I came to chat about college._

_'Mr.Halforth, I got accepted into many colleges..._ _the letters came into the mailbox today,' I said._

_'That's wonderful James!"_

_'I guess...'_

_'I've noticed that you've been unhappy for a while. Do you want to go to college?'_

_'Yes but... I'm just not happy... I don't feel right about this..."_

_'If you don't feel right about something, then don't do it. Follow your own heart. Follow your goals and dreams in life! Don't let anything stop you! What do you want to do?'_

_'I want to become a teacher, but my parents will make me be a doctor or something...'_

_'If you want to be happy in life, then you need to do what you think is right for you. Do not let anyone tell you otherwise. Son, to be happy, joyful, etc. you need to do what you want to do.'_

_'I think I understand...thanks Mr.Halforth! I will become a teacher, and there's nothing my parents can do!'_

_'Attaboy!'"_

_"Wow Mr.Bryans! So you didn't do what your parents said but became a teacher?"_

_"Yup, and I'm happy!"_

_"You're inspirational! You know what... I think I like doing woodshop. Maybe I'll be a carpenter or something when I'm an adult. It's fun but I got to get better at it. Can you help me?"_

_"Sure! You can come by my office after school everyday if you want!"_

_"Thanks!"_

**End of Flashback**

The thing that was precious to Neji, besides Tenten, were his tools. With his tools, Neji could make and fix anything! Neji suddenly stopped walking and then started dashing towards his shop. He ran in and came out with a toolbox. Then, he sprinted into a shop.

"Sir! Will you buy these tools from me?" inquired Neji holding up his dear tools that were in the box.

"Well... they are in good condition... there are also many different tools in there...is $100 okay?" answered the middle-aged storekeeper as he looked into the tool box.

"Sold!" shouted Neji while exchanging his tools for the money.

"Thank you sir!"

Neji practically twirled out the door with joy knowing that he had money to buy Tenten a gift and ran to Tenten's favorite store. He paused at the store to look at the kit that Tenten wanted her whole life. He walked inside to talk to the cashier. He walked in with a smile but it turned upside down when he heard the price for the gift. Sulking as he trudged out the door, Neji walked slowly back to the store where he sold his tools. When he got there, he sat down at the curb in front of the store.

"Hey Sonney! What's the matter?" questioned the middle-aged storekeeper when he came out of the store to throw out garbage.

"I don't have enough money to buy a gift for my sweet Tenten," sighed Neji.

"If you could have one wish, what would it be?"

"Why?"

"I'm a curious man."

"Okay... I would wish that the kit in front of my Tenten's favorite store was wrapped up with pretty wrapping paper with a bow on top and that it was under our small Christmas tree."

"Wouldn't you wish to be rich? Then you could have enough money to buy your wife tons of gifts!"

"But, my wife and I are happy the way we are. If I came home rich without working for it, then my Tenten would scold me. She doesn't want money... she just wants to be happy. I agree with her."

"My, my, my, aren't you a sweet young man."

"Thank you for the chat, but I need to go home..."

"You are very welcome."

* * *

"Let's see... what is here that would be perfect for my Neji?" 

Tenten was walking around stores, looking for a gift for her husband. Then something caught her eye. In the window of a store she saw some gloves, tough gloves that were worn to keep hands protected while working with tools, etc. They were soft enough, the right size, and flexible enough for her hard-working husband. She darted into the store with a sparkle her eyes. Her smile that was on her face when she went in disappeared as she came out. The gloves were brand-new, and a designer lable. She couldn't afford them. Tenten shuffled her way across the sidewalk and then stopped in front of a store to sit on the curb in front of it.

"Young lady, why are you looking so upset?" asked the same man who bought Tenten's weapons and Neji's tools.

"I don't have enough money to buy my Neji a wonderful gift... I saw these beautiful, tough gloves that would have been perfect for my Neji."

"If you don't mind me asking... if you had one wish, what would you wish for?" inquired the man.

"Hmm... I would wish that the gloves that I saw were wrapped up in wrapping paper with a bow and that it was under our baby Christmas tree."

"Wouldn't you wish that you were rich or ..."

"No, because I don't want to be rich. I'm happy the way I am and where I'm financially at. My Neji would agree with me, and he's also happy, I think."

"You are very sweet."

"Sigh Thank you for the talk, it made me feel much better. If you don't mind, but I have to go home now."

"You're welcome."

* * *

Neji was at home making dinner as Tenten came in.

"Oh sweetie! You don't have to do that!" exclaimed Tenten.

"It's okay, I want to do it."

"Alright, but I'll help!"

Neji and Tenten ate their dinner, talked a bit, and went to bed. Both were sad that they didn't have anything under the tree for their loved one.


End file.
